Accio Connect

Accio Connect is a full-stack job and networking platform built as a monorepo with a React + Vite frontend and a Node.js + Express backend.

Repository structure

• frontend/ — React client app powered by Vite, Redux Toolkit, and Tailwind CSS.
• backend/ — Node.js API server using Express, MongoDB, JWT authentication, and cookie handling.

Features

• User registration and authentication
• Profile management
• Post creation and retrieval
• Protected API routes with JWT
• CORS support for frontend/backend separation

Getting started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ installed
• npm or yarn available
• MongoDB connection string

Backend setup

1. Open a terminal and navigate to the backend folder:

   cd backend

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Create a .env file in backend/ with values similar to:

   MONGO_URL=<your-mongodb-connection-string>
   JWT_SECRET=<your-jwt-secret>

4. Start the backend server:

   npm start

5. The backend runs on:
   • http://localhost:8000

Frontend setup

1. Open a terminal and navigate to the frontend folder:

   cd frontend

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Create a .env file in frontend/ with:

   VITE_BACKEND_API_URL=http://localhost:8000/api

4. Start the development server:

   npm run dev

5. The frontend runs on:
   • http://localhost:5173

Scripts

Backend

• npm start — start backend with nodemon.

Frontend

• npm run dev — run Vite development server.
• npm run build — build production assets.
• npm run preview — preview the built frontend.
• npm run lint — run ESLint.

API routes

Auth

• POST /api/auth/signup
• POST /api/auth/signin
• GET /api/auth/profile (protected)

Posts

• POST /api/post (create post)
• GET /api/post (list posts)

Health and misc

• GET /healthcheck
• GET /admin
• GET /test

Notes

• The backend uses CORS to allow the frontend origin at http://localhost:5173 and a couple of deployed Vercel URLs.
• The frontend Axios client uses withCredentials: true to support cookie-based auth.

Recommended workflow

1. Start MongoDB.
2. Run backend from backend/.
3. Run frontend from frontend/.
4. Sign up or sign in from the React app.

Useful files

• backend/src/app.js — Express app configuration and middleware.
• backend/src/server.js — server startup and database connection.
• backend/src/config/db.js — MongoDB connection helper.
• frontend/src/utils/axios.js — Axios instance with backend base URL.
• frontend/vite.config.js — Vite configuration.